


Winter

by verdictlesslife (Jaetion)



Category: Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time
Genre: Alternate Timeline, Community: fanfic100, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-02-09
Updated: 2010-02-09
Packaged: 2017-10-07 03:27:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jaetion/pseuds/verdictlesslife
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Malon goes riding on a sunny winter day.  A drabble set in a timeline where Malon takes Zelda's place as Hyrule's princess.  Response to the challenge "winter" for the LJ community fanfic100 (December 2009).</p>
            </blockquote>





	Winter

Ganondorf was an easy target: a black spear in the snow-covered meadow. His massive, ill-tempered stallion snorted and tossed his head. Malon could see his smoky breath in the cold air, even as far away as she was, like the damn thing had a fire burning in its wide chest.

Her own mare was quiet - of course, since Malon had been the one to train her - and waiting patiently as Malon sat still on her back. The first snow of the season hadn't disappointed; a blanket so thick that even Lon Lon Ranch looked like it was sleeping serenely covered the field. The trees wore white cloaks, except for the untouched forest where the fairy children lived, and when she caught a glimpse of the lake, it sparkled so brightly that she had to shade her eyes.

Malon leaned down her horse's neck and stroked her soft fur. When she had been a girl, she stand in the cold pretending to be smoking her father's pipe, that her frozen puffs of breath were really clouds of sweet smoke. She grinned sheepishly at herself and fidgeted in her new riding costume. Her hood slid off her head - she hadn't really gotten used to it yet - and she had to prod it back into place. It had taken three servants to get her buttoned into the outfit and as soon as the last bow was tied, she was immediately itchy and sweltering. But Ganondorf had been pleased, had called her his queen, so she only scratched surreptitiously.

She exhaled another white breath. Beyond the ranch, Malon could see a dark smudge of the base of the mountains. They had avoided Karkariko Village, though Ganondorf had assured her that it was only a matter of time before he stamped out the last of the resistance. Malon shivered and pressed her face into her horse's soft mane for a moment before nudging her back into motion. They trotted through along the edge of the woods, staying under the long branches, where the snow wasn't as deep. This too, Ganondorf had told her, would be his soon. The Kokiri Forest was crumbling already and the temple rotting.

Malon yanked open the buttons on her gloves and the tiny Zora pearls sprayed into the snow and were lost instantly. Then she kicked her steed harder than she needed to and they ran back to Ganondorf's side.


End file.
